


Can You Feel My Heart?

by newyork_institute



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka's a lesbian, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bo-Katan fights for her sister and not against, Bo-Katan leaves Death Watch, Death Watch, Death Watch and Red Dawn are total opposites, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone Needs Therapy, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Found Identity, Foundlings, Fox and Padme are better, Gen, Good Mandalorians and Bad Mandalorians, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Identity, M/M, Mandalorian Bounty Hunter, Mandalorian Clans (Star Wars), Mandalorian Protectors (Star Wars Rebels), Millennium Falcon - Freeform, Obi-Wan and Cody suck at keeping their relationship on the down low, Obi-Wan is gay, Order 66 Didn't Happen (Star Wars), Original Mandalorian Clans, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker Friendship, Palpatine dies, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Red Dawn (OG Clan), Red Dawn is better, Rex is bi, Satine Kryze Lives, Satine and Obi-Wan are good friends, Satine changes her views in this one, Satine likes Red Dawn, and realized that when they were younger, because they're both gay, clan wars
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:08:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28580250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newyork_institute/pseuds/newyork_institute
Summary: Choices come with consequences, something Gaia has learned to accept in her short life.The choice to join the Republic during the Clone Wars is something she doesn't even have to think about, let alone consider the consequences of, until it's too late.
Relationships: 212th Attack Battalion & 501st Legion (Star Wars), 212th Attack Battalion (Star Wars) & Original Character(s), 501st Legion & Original Character(s), Ahsoka Tano/Original Female Character(s), Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze & Original Character(s), Bo-Katan Kryze & Satine Kryze, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-6116 | Kix/Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex/Original Male Character(s), Fenn Rau & Original Character(s), Hondo Ohnaka & Original Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/CC-1010 | Fox, Sabine Wren & Ursa Wren, Satine Kryze & Original Character(s), Ursa Wren & Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

Vanqor was no place to be after dark. The bounty hunter knew that, had that ingrained in her brain since she was six years old, but that didn’t stop herself from landing her ship on the dark surface, feeling something akin to apprehension running down her spine and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand. It was safe for what she was about to do, but not safe to be here for long.

“BD.” The bounty hunter's voice said throughout the ship, echoing through the halls and off the walls as she made her way back to the main hold, the holotable beeping with an incoming message. Her droid, a BD unit, looked up at her, waiting for her, his foot in the table, ready to rework the configuration. “Make sure this is untraceable.”

BD chirped at her in mock annoyance, already knowing what to do before she had to tell him. The bounty hunter smirked under her bucket as she opened the line between Vanqor and Coruscant, letting the image of one Senator Amidala of Naboo come through.

“Senator Amidala.” The bounty hunter bowed faintly in greeting, her gaze locked on the Senator through her visor. “What a joyous surprise. I hope you liked your gift.”

The Senator regarded her for a second as she stood back to her full height, the armor shining in the faint glow of the main holds faint lighting. BD looked at her and nodded at her and jumped down from the table, his work done. He didn’t leave the room, simply placing himself on a crate behind her to watch.

“What do you want, bounty hunter?” Amidala asked, her tone cold, and that was to be expected. It’s not every day a head arrives at a Senator’s office, a message and holotransmitter waiting for her. 

The bounty hunter smirked under her bucket as she shrugged her shoulders, playing it off like what she wanted wasn’t that big of a deal. 

“Just a friendly conversation that benefits the Republic. Nothing more,” the bounty hunter said, eyeing the Senator. She was dressed in regal clothing, matching what she used to wear not too long ago when she was still Queen. The bounty hunter was positive she had at least three wires in her hair for strangulation, vibroblades in her boots, and a blaster attached to her hip.

“How does bringing me a head benefit the Republic?” Amidala questioned, trying not to let her voice waver at the item she saw sitting on her desk. It was in a simple crate, unmarked, and getting it into the Senate building and on her desk cost the bounty hunter more than she currently had. 

“I’m guessing you haven’t seen _who’s_ head I delivered.” At that, Amidala gave her a quizzical look, glancing to something, or someone, off-camera. “And I’m also guessing you’re not alone, so have the lovely Commander Fox tell you who won’t be a problem for the Republic anymore as his bureaucratic organization scrambles around like a chicken with its head cut off.”

Amidala eyed the bounty hunter for a second before she turned to someone off-camera. A second figure appeared in the transmission, one with red and white plastoid, his bucket hiding his face. Though she’s never met a clone before, she knew exactly what he looked like under his armor.

Commander Fox whispered something to the Senator, who’s eyes widened before she looked at him in disbelief. She schooled her expression quickly before her gaze snapped to the bounty hunter, her eyes narrowed, but that didn’t stop the curiousness from creeping into her gaze. “How did you managed to get to the Viceroy of the Trade Federation?”

“I have friends in high places, in both the Republic Senate and Confederacy of Independent Systems, Senator. A nice bribe can get me a long way,” the bounty hunter said. BD chirped behind her, and she could practically feel him rolling his processors at her.

“Why did you kill Nute Gunray?” Amidala asked, not letting the bounty hunter see how uneasy her statement made her. But the bounty hunter has gotten used to seeing that exact expression on people’s faces since she was a child, raised in a warzone as a Foundling. Making that expression appear on people’s faces was her job at this point.

“Because I’m going to be doing some things within the coming months that will attract attention from both your Senate and Dooku’s. I just wanted you to know who’s side I’m on before you send some Jedi after me to bring me in for questioning.” Amidala quirked a brow at her, now intrigued. 

“Like what?” Amidala asked. The bounty hunter watched as she looked at someone in the room, seeing as how the Commander was still standing at her side, though further back, as if to watch her back and to step in if he needed to. 

“Nothing you need to worry about, Senator,” the bounty hunter waved her hand to further her point, and Amidala’s eyes narrowed at her words. The bounty hunter smirked under her bucket. “But, please tell the GAR that when they see a Corellian YT-series light freighter called the _Millennium Falcon_ , to _not_ shoot it down. I have work to do and finding a new ship is not one of them.”

Amidala’s eyes stayed narrowed on her as she processed her words before she spoke next, an obvious note to her tone. “Why don’t you tell them yourself? I’m sure I can set up a meeting between you and the Jedi Council.”

“I would say yes to that, Senator, but I’m afraid I already told them, so it’d be a waste of your time,” the bounty hunter said, her voice light as she spoke. She watched Amidala mull over her words before her eyes widened as she looked to someone else briefly behind the transmission. BD chirped at her in indignation before he jumped down from his crate before climbing his way up her leg.

The bounty hunter turned to give BD a glare she knew he could see through the visor of her bucket.

“You know they’re here,” the Senator said, her voice shaking slightly. 

“I did tell you I have friends in high places.” The bounty hunter shrugged. A warning on the holotable flashed red at the bounty hunter before her proximity alert went off. _Kriff_.

“Until next time, Senator.” The bounty hunter quickly bowed as she ended the transmission, turning to BD. He was already on the move, making his way out of the main hold to get to the heavy turret gun. BD jumped down to the gun as the bounty hunter made her way to the cockpit, throwing herself in the pilots' seat as she began to gear the ship up, punching in the coordinates for Coruscant. 

Pirates were something the bounty hunter actively tried to avoid, being tricky bastards that always seemed to slip through her fingers. Hondo Ohnaka’s gang of pirates were the only ones the bounty hunter could tolerate, and that was _if_ she was in the mood to put up with Hondo’s moaning about whatever bothered him since the last time she went to Florrum as she drank her way through several bottles of his moonshine before he tired to bargain a price with her for her freighter.

Today was not one of those days. She’s was actively trying to avoid him right now, not wanting a repeat of last time when he was holding her bounty as prisoner and wouldn’t let her anywhere near him. She gunned her way through before grabbing him and taking him back to Tatooine. He was probably still pissed at her for it, and she didn’t want to see what he had in store for her if he got a hold of her.

The bounty hunter put the ship's shields up as the _Falcon_ lifted up from the ground and made its way off-planet, a ship hot on her tail. She cursed in Mando’a. “BD, get up here and take over the controls!”

She rushed from the cockpit down to the turret, meeting BD in the hallway, before he took over and got them out of there as she shot at whatever ships Hondo was throwing her way. By the size of the ship, it was some of his goons he sent here for her, and she cursed again as she lined up the shot and began firing, hitting the other ship's deflector shields. Even if BD made the transmission she shared with the Senator untraceable, that didn’t stop Hondo’s sixth sense from kicking in whenever she got close to Florrum. 

BD chirped into her bucket, his tone insistent, as they rose higher in the sky. The bounty hunter rolled her eyes and fired again before she spoke. “ _It doesn’t matter if there's a gundark on the top of us_! He’s not our problem right now!”

Her droid responded with a string of profanities thrown her way he definitely heard on Tatooine before they were breaching the atmosphere. The bounty hunter abandoned the gun as she joined BD in the cockpit, taking over. 

“Punch it, BD!” She shouted, and the familiar feeling of jumping to lightspeed hit the bounty hunter in the gut, and she relaxed slightly before she slumped back in her chair, pulling her bucket from her head to look at her small friend.

She breathed in for a second, BD watching her curiously, before she stood up and made her way out of the cockpit, patting BD on the head as she passed him. “Good job, buddy.”

_You’d be lost without me_ , he responded, and the bounty hunter snorted at his words.

She probably would be. Mandalorians weren’t meant to be alone, and the bounty hunter has been since she was twelve, when her clan abandoned her after her buir died on Bandomeer when the mission went wrong. If she hadn’t had BD to work on after she that, she doesn’t know where she would be right now. She didn’t even want to think about it.

But she owed a lot to BD. He saved her _shebs_ more than once since she fixed him and brought him back from the pile of burnt pieces and broken wires she found him as. He may be small, but he was violent when he wanted to be, and having him on her side as she broke into Nute Gunray’s stronghold on Neimodia to finally remove him from the galaxy was a blessing in itself when she underestimated how many droids he had there, protecting him.

When the bounty hunter set out to find the Viceroy, there were rumors making their rounds in the Outer Rim and through the Separatist Alliance that Gunray had a failsafe in motion. If he died during the war, he would leak all the Separatist information to the Republic to undermine Dooku and Darth Sidious. Apparently, he didn’t have it finished by the time he died at the hands of the bounty hunter, but she had a friend, a former clan member, looking into it on Coruscant now, and that’s where she was headed next.

BD told her multiple times how it was a bad idea to get involved in a war that wasn’t her own, but whenever the bounty hunter managed to land on a planet controlled and protected by the Republic, she would enter a bar, keeping to the shadows, and watch the clones interact with the locals, the men bread for a war. They were people, they were humans, and she would remember everything her buir taught her before he died and think, _I have to do this, if not for me, then for them_.

They were slaves to the Republic. They were working and fighting and losing their brothers _every day_ for no recognition whatsoever. They were cloned from a Mandalorian whose birthplace was Concord Dawn, and since the moment they could walk, they were forced to carry a blaster around and shoot without a choice. They were taught to do, not to think, to follow orders and be good soldiers, and the bounty hunter would feel a spark of sadness as she watched them _living_ for once. 

The innocent were always the ones forced into a war, not understanding what was really going on, just simply knowing who was the bad guy and who to shoot at. It’s how the bounty hunter grew up, being dragged into a clan war that’s been going on for years by her _buir_ after he found her. 

She had a choice, and it wasn’t fair for the clones to grow up with no choices of their own at all. She had the choice to continue doing what her _buir_ taught her before he died and she was abandoned by her clan. She had the choice of who her contacts were, who to trust, and who to never turn to unless she was desperate. She had the choice to fix up the _Falcon_ after her _buir_ died and left it in pieces on Bandomeer. She had the choice to stay out of the war, like BD so desperately wanted her to do, but instead, she chose to fight for the Republic and find the failsafe Gunray put in place that would ruin the Separatists.

She had the choice to call Jax Malogaan her _buir_ when he was only twelve years older than her instead of calling the man who gave her life her _buir_ , because it was hard to think of him as a father when he sold her to the Hutts for drinking money when she was still young.

And she had the choice to follow in Jax’s footsteps and help those who couldn’t help themselves, and though she’s failed in the past, she wasn’t going to fail now, not when so many lives depended on it. 

She just didn’t realize she bit off more than she could chew.


	2. Chapter 2

When Senator Amidala walked into her office after getting brunch with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to find an unmarked crate on her desk, she couldn’t help but think someone was making an attempt on her life because of the bill she was soon to propose to the Senate. When the Guard entered her office to take over and examine whatever was inside as she waited in the hall as the building went into lockdown, she wasn’t surprised the Chancellor told the Jedi Council. 

Commander Fox found the transmitter on the side of her desk, almost hidden, and asked her if it was hers. When she said no, he proceeded to tell everyone that there was a message on it that requested the Senator call the only person available on the device, and after doing a perimeter sweep for the culprit behind the crate and no one was found, the Council agreed with the Chancellor that she should call whoever was responsible for this as the Guard took the crate to further examine what was inside. 

They tried to establish a connection trace, but it proved futile when the bounty hunter, a Mandalorian, was prepared for such a thing to happen, and though R2 was close to finding where the bounty hunter was, said bounty hunter ended the transmission before he could break through any of the encryptions she had placed upon the device. 

Whoever the bounty hunter was was good, that was obvious. She managed to sneak into the Senate building unseen and made it almost impossible for her to be tracked, but what lay inside the crate was too good to be true. 

Was it really possible that the leader of the Trade Federation was dead? If he was, the Trade Federation would be in shambles as they tried to find the correct person to lead them, and it undermined the Separatists and gave the Republic and the GAR an edge to the war that no one saw coming. 

“R2, were you able to figure out where this bounty hunter is?” Obi-Wan asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he stroked his beard, a habit Padmé noticed he picked up long ago, around the time he became a Jedi Knight and began training Anakin. Not only did his own Padawan seem to inherit the subconscious move, but his Grandpadawan did as well. 

R2 beeped sadly at Obi-Wan, and that was an answer in itself. He was unable to find a trace of the bounty hunter anywhere, and it made a bead of awe creep up Padmé’s spine, but it quickly left when she realized how _dangerous_ the bounty hunter could be. Was she really aligning herself with the Republic? Would she really help them defeat the Separatists? 

But to do that, Padmé thought, she would have to continue killing key leaders, and that was probably her plan as she moved forward. A majority of them were better off in the Republic’s custody so they could give them key intel, but if it broke down everything Dooku’s worked so hard for since he Fell to the Dark Side, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

There was more to it, though, that Padmé was convinced of. There was a deeper motive for the bounty hunter, and that armor of hers reminded Padmé very much of the armor the Death Watch wore. If she was Death Watch, then the Republic was about to be dealt a serious blow as she trapeezed throughout the galaxy, doing whatever she pleased. 

By the look on Obi-Wan’s face, she could tell he was thinking the same thing. Padmé shook her head, not wanting to let her thoughts wander quite yet as she looked back to Commander Fox, who received a message on his datapad. 

“Is it true? Is the head really Nute Gunray’s?” Padmé asked, eyeing the Commander. Fox looked up from his datapad and stood up just a little bit straighter before he nodded his head, removing his bucket. 

“Commander Thorn confirmed it was his, Senator,” Fox said. Padmé let out a breath, turning back to look at the Chancellor and the members of the Jedi Council that were present. 

A feeling of unease spread throughout the room then, and Padmé felt it herself deep in her bones. The bounty hunter said she had friends in high places. Just how high up were those friends? 

“The Trade Federation has just been dealt a serious blow, and with them, the Separatists. We need to figure out who this bounty hunter is,” the Chancellor said, something akin to disdain on his face. 

“Agree with you, I do,” Master Yoda said, the look of unease clear on his face. “Ability to kill the Viceroy, she has, ability to kill anyone, she does. Dangerous, I feel she is.” 

“Mandalorian bounty hunters follow a specific Creed, Master,” Obi-Wan spoke, looking down at the Grandmaster of the Order. Padmé watched him as he continued. “If this one had vowed her allegiance to the Republic, we should consider waiting for her next move before we continue.” 

“We can at least see if anyone knows who she is,” Padmé suggested, her mind thinking of a plan before she even spoke. “Maybe Duchess Satine has dealt with her before.” 

If the Duchess saw the armour, she might be able to point them in the right direction. If she was Death Watch, then the Republic would know not to trust her. If she was a simple bounty hunter, they could observe her movements and be prepared if she changed her mind. But Padmé remembered the last time a Mandalorian bounty hunter was on the loose, and the results of his actions created an entire army and almost killed her in the process. 

But each bounty hunter had their own ideals and beliefs they followed. Some hunted down slavers, some protected people, and others went after money, not caring who got caught in the crossfire. If she was in it for the money, Padmé didn’t think the Republic would pay for her services, not if innocent people were going to die by her hand. That would be blood none of them would be able to wipe clean. 

Master Windu made a sound of agreement with Padmé before he turned to address Obi-Wan. “Obi-Wan, take Anakin and Ahsoka to Mandalore to see if Duchess Satine knows anything of the bounty hunter. Tell her any piece of information she has, even if they’re rumors, might be helpful.” 

Obi-Wan left then, bowing to the two higher-ranking members on the Council, on his way to hunt down Anakin and Ahsoka. Padmé couldn’t help but wonder what Satine would think when she heard three Jedi were on their way to Mandalore to ask her about a bounty hunter. 

“Commander,” the Chancellor spoke, drawing Fox’s attention to him. Fox stood at attention, waiting for the inevitable order from him. “Send your men to canvas the lower levels and see if anyone has come into contact with this bounty hunter before. If the Duchess has nothing for us, it might be best to get looking into Coruscant's inner workings immediately.” 

“Sir,” Fox said, saluting him quickly before he was making his way out of Padmé’s office. Padmé didn’t think having the entire Guard focused on one bounty hunter was the best course of action, but if they found someone who knew this bounty hunter, it would be good for them. 

But there were billions of people that lived on Coruscant. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

“Senator Amidala.” Padmé looked at Master Windu before he continued. “It might be best if you make a formal statement as soon as possible about what happened.” 

“Ah, yes,” the Chancellor said, stepping in to take over. The Senate was his area of expertise, after all. “News spreads quickly in Coruscant and throughout the Republic. You’ll need to alert the media that nothing too serious occurred here today.” 

“Not too serious?” Padmé asked, surprised. “The Viceroy of the Trade Federation is dead, your excellency-” 

“Which is _why_ the Separatists cannot know we know of it,” the Chancellor said, cutting Padmé off. “If the Separatists find out this was done for the Republic, even without our consent, it will look bad for us all.” 

“What you’re saying is we’ll lose more systems and the fighting will increase,” Windu said, eyeing the Chancellor. Palpatine nodded his head at the Jedi. 

“Precisely. Lying to the people about what we know is what’s best for them.” At the Chancellor's words, red flags began going off in Padmé’s mind. _It was wrong_ , she thought. _If the people find out we’re lying to them, they’ll turn on us_. But Padmé ignored those thoughts and nodded her head, because if the Chancellor wanted something done, then she would do it. She trusted his judgment. 

“I’ll think of something to tell the people,” Padmé said. She knew it wasn’t hard to miss the tone of displeasure in her voice at the thought, but what other choice did she have? She just had to hope this didn’t go badly in their favor, or the Republic’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the pov of this story is going to jump from character to character, but the main one its going to stick with is the lovely mandalorian bounty hunter


	3. Chapter 3

Coruscant’s underground was a dark place full of the worst the galaxy had to offer and a place for the higher-ups of society to hide from prying eyes. Conveniently, it was a good place to rendezvous with an old friend who liked to stay hidden just as much as the bounty hunter did. 

Unlike her, the friend she was meeting liked to stay out of the life she lived, simply staying out of the shadows of her work and providing her with a place to crash at when the thoughts in her head became too loud and she didn’t want to be alone. The older she got, the more that took place, and her friend, her former clan member, always had his door open for her. 

Walking the streets of the lower levels was always a dangerous game, too. Mandalorians stuck out with all their armor on, so the bounty hunter walked with a thick tunic covering her, the hood covering her head to avoid prying eyes. She came to her friend's place, punching in the code to open the door, not bothering with knocking. The second she was inside, a blaster was pointed right in her face, and BD chirped in surprise from her shoulder. The bounty hunter gave the man behind the blaster a blank look before he lowered it and tucked it into the waistband of his pants, annoyed. 

“Thought you weren’t getting in till morning?” he asked. No greeting was thrown at her, not like she expected one anyways, as he moved back through his apartment to his office, multiple screens lit up with things the bounty hunter didn’t care to understand. 

“Gundarks and Hondo Ohnaka tend to make a lady leave very quickly, Nico,” the bounty hunter said, throwing her tunic off and onto a couch before removing her bucket as she followed Nico into his office. The man huffed at her in response as she took a seat and looked at the screens. “Find anything?” 

“Gunray’s a complicated bastard, kid. I think if you want to find anything, you’ll have to go back to Nemoidia,” Nico said, looking at her and taking a seat in his own chair, looking through the files BD managed to scrounge up before the bounty hunter cut Gunray’s head off. 

They were all heavily encrypted, and the bounty hunter would have had BD splice into them, but they needed to be handled with care and not ripped into like they were some kind of rabid beast. BD hopped up to one of the controls of Nico’s work and stuck his foot in the port before getting to work. 

Nico rolled his eyes at the droid, but there was a fond look on his face, though it was hardly noticeable. If the bounty hunter didn’t know him so well, she would’ve missed the look entirely. 

“That’s _why_ we grabbed the information, Nico. So we _didn’t_ have to go back to Neimoidia,” the bounty hunter pointed out, kicking her feet up onto the table before her. Nico looked over at her before he shoved her feet off the table, rolling his eyes. 

“Next time, get me more than all his work information,” Nico deadpanned, turning back to the screen. The bounty hunter sighed as she sat up. “Is that all this is? Files about the Trade Federation?” 

“Yup,” Nico said, pulling up a file. The bounty hunter groaned. “It’s enough to incriminate the entire Federation, but it means nothing if we don’t have the failsafe.” 

“I know,” the bounty hunter grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back into the chair. When she propped her feet up on the table this time, Nico didn’t try to push them away. 

The thing about Nico was that he was very skilled with cracking encryptions; just as good as a droid, in fact. The bounty hunter knew that with him and BD working together, a file that took days to crack with one took half that time with both. Maybe all they took wasn’t just Gunray’s work details about the Federation now that both were working on the encryptions, and maybe they could find something that led them in the right direction for the failsafe, but they wouldn’t know that until they found it. 

The bounty hunter didn’t know where the rumor for the failsafe came from, but travelers liked to spill their guts when they were drunk under the table at Maz Kanata’s castle on Takodana. And the bounty hunter learned long ago that once someone was drunk enough to spill their deepest darkest secrets, they couldn’t stop. 

“How’d the call with the Senator go?” Nico asked, looking over at her and she ran her fingers across the scar on her face. She rubbed her eye and shrugged, smirking a little. 

“They totally weren’t expecting a Separatist leader to be killed by a lowlife bounty hunter, but they didn’t even _thank me_ for what I did for them. How rude,” the bounty hunter said, standing up, making her way out of the room to grab the bag of her bucket. 

Nico snorted in the other room, slightly amused. “I wonder why? It’s not like every day a head gets dropped onto the Senator of Naboo’s desk.” 

“Well, if there’s another opening for me, they’ll get another one soon.” 

“I don’t doubt it for a second,” Nico said, coming out of his office. He headed for the kitchen, eyeing her as he passed as she put her tunic back on. “Got a date?” 

“With the Commander of the Guard,” the bounty hunter replied, looking down at the tunic covering her once more. She thought about it for a second. If she had to make a quick escape, she'd rather not burn the only tunic she owned, so instead, she discarded it. 

Nico paused in the entryway of his kitchen, looking at her. His eyes were narrowed, and the bounty hunter barely gave him a glance as she secured her blasters to her hips. 

Whenever the bounty hunter looked at Nico, she hardly saw the man he used to be when they were still part of the same clan. She didn’t see the battle-hardened sergeant who was Jax’s right-hand man, or the man who could stare down a Hutt and not even flinch. She saw someone who had a stable life, working as a security officer for docking ports throughout Coruscant, covering his tracks well so as not to get caught when he took bribes from practically everyone. 

But when he put his own armor on, the colors bleeding together to show the galaxy everything he’s been through, everything he's _been_ through, the bounty hunter remembers the first time they met when she was only six years old and terrified of everything and everyone. 

“The entire Guard is practically scrounging the lower levels to see if anyone knows you. I don’t think it’s in your best interest to go out and corner the Commander of the Coruscant Guard, kid,” Nico said, his tone one of concern, but the bounty hunter waved it off as she moved to finish getting ready. 

“I know. I expected as much. I also know without having to look into it that someone’s going to Mandalore to talk to Satine to see if she can tell the Republic who I am.” When the bounty hunter looked up and met Nico’s blue eyes, he narrowed them at her. 

“Why are you going to see the Commander?” He asked. The bounty hunter smirked as she picked up her bucket before she bent some to allow BD to jump on her shoulder the second he saw her getting ready to leave. 

“Thought maybe I could buy more of the GAR’s trust if I’m willing to give up an expensive bounty for them,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. BD made a sound of shock as Nico’s eyes widened just the slightest. 

“You’re giving up that _50,000 credit bounty_ the Hutts offered you?” Nico asked. The bounty hunter smirked before pulling her bucket on, the view of Nico leaning in the doorway changing just the slightest bit. 

BD chirped on her shoulder like the news personally offended him, and the bounty hunter had to hold back a sigh before she spoke to him. “I _know_ I promised you that upgrade, and you’ll still get it, just not right now.” 

“Gaia,” Nico said, cutting off whatever BD was going to say next to draw their attention to him. “Are you sure this is a good idea? It’s not too late to back out of this.” 

Gaia thought of the clones, fighting a war for a galaxy that didn’t even consider them human. Innocents dying by the hundreds because of the Separatists. Bounty hunters profiting off of the destruction of the galaxy to get away with anything they wanted. Gaia was only one person but, _by the Force_ , what else was she supposed to do? Sit on the sidelines and watch the galaxy and the Republic fall apart? 

Instead of answering Nico’s question, Gaia moved to the bookshelf on the wall, shoving it out of the way and opening the secret door of Nico’s apartment. After punching in the code and watching it slide open, she turned back to Nico and offered him a faux salute before she was gone, slipping out through a door and into a tunnel that would lead her to a different part of the level they were on so as not to arouse suspicion from Nico’s neighbors. 

As the door closed behind her, Gaia could hear Nico sigh in resignation. Gaia was in this fight, and if she was in this fight, then so was he. 

*** 

When Gaia was six years old, Jax Malogaan found her running from the Hutts on Nimban. Instead of leaving her there to the mercy of the Hutts, he took her with him and back to the planet he and his people called home. D’Qar was a grassy and mountainous world, full of native species and places to run around and be a kid in, but as Gaia grew older, she spent more time at the base of Red Dawn, one of the oldest Mandalorian groups in all the galaxy. 

While on D’Qar, Jax took Gaia under his wing and taught her everything she knew today, and if he couldn’t spare the time to train her, Nico was always the one to come in and care for her. She was a mixture of the two of them combined; Jax’s determination and Nico’s loyalty. It made for an interesting combination in the bounty hunter herself, and the skills she learned from them are what helped her survive this long after leaving Red Dawn when she was only twelve years old. 

Nico was Gaia’s go-to man when she needed anything done. BD was a good substitute for him, but he was an absolute _genius_ who could cripple governments if he wanted to. Just one maneuver on his datapad could shut down the _entire_ power grid on Coruscant alone. He showed Gaia all she needed to know if she wanted to do it herself. He was an incredible man, but he could also have his days where Gaia thought he was a complete psychopath. 

Gaia leaned in an alley as she watched some of the Guard walk by, their red paint looking bright and fresh in the night glow of Coruscant. They were probably rookies, and BD scanned them from her shoulder before he beeped at her. 

“Find me Fox,” Gaia spoke under her breath, pressing herself further into the alley as they passed. BD chirped at her as she watched them walk by before she was moving out of the alley, moving down the sidewalks, and passing all types of people. 

_He’s not in this section of the level_ , BD chirped into her bucket before he showed her where he was in comparison to her. He was surprisingly by the tunnel Gaia emerged from that led from Nico’s apartment to the other side of the level. Gaia cursed under her breath before she began her trek over there, letting the droid on her shoulder direct her. 

As Gaia moved through the level on sidewalks and backstreets, no one paid her any mind. They parted ways for her, and all the bounty hunter did was roll her eyes at the notion. None of them were of any interest to her, and their fear of her was slightly annoying, but at this point in her life, she was completely used to it. 

_Fox is headed this way. Someone alerted him of your presence_ , BD chirped to her. Gaia stopped where she stood in the alley, looking behind her, seeing the alley empty before she looked forward. Gaia lifted her arm and let the map of the level light up the darkness, seeing Fox about to turn the corner into the alley. 

“Got the chip I need?” Gaia asked, watching Fox round the corner, his blaster raised, as two other troopers flanked him. Gaia heard motion behind her, and she didn’t have to look to know she was cornered. But she couldn’t help but glance up, seeing at least that exit was clear. _Sloppy_ , she thought, before raising her hands in surrender. 

“Easy, boys. I’m not here to play,” Gaia said, her voice carrying. BD chirped quietly on her shoulder, causing her to shrug softly to get him to shut up. 

“Tell that to the man you just killed,” Commander Fox said, taking a step forward. Gaia watched him, looking over the red that covered his armor. _Red; honoring a parent or leader_. Gaia couldn’t help but think it was for the Chancellor. If it was for Jango, she’d honestly be surprised. 

“Gunray had it coming, Commander,” Gaia said, taking a small step forward to match him. Fox didn’t seem to like that, nor any of his men. The bounty hunter watched as they all raised their blasters higher. Gaia noticed Fox’s was aimed directly at a soft spot in her armor. _Smart_ , she thought. “But that’s not the point. I’m here to offer you something.” 

“What could you possibly offer me?” Fox asked, his voice strong and unwavering. Gaia couldn’t help but smirk under her bucket. 

The bounty hunter raised her left hand, the one closest to BD, ever so slowly, but the Commander of the Guard still stiffened and tightened his grip on his blaster. “ _Easy_ , Commander.” 

BD placed the chip in her hand, and Gaia made a sound of thanks before she gripped it and flashed it at the Commander, who the bounty hunter could tell was watching intently, waiting for her to strike. But all she did was show him the chip, her weapons nowhere near her hands. 

“I present to you, Commander Fox, a chip that contains all the information you need on a slaver cell here on Coruscant, about ten levels down from us,” Gaia said, tossing the chip to him before he could so much as react to the news. Fox caught it without hesitation, lowering his blaster to do so, but he simply looked at it like it carried the fate of the war in his hands. 

“How do I know that when I plug it in, it won’t break down all the encryptions the GAR has in place so you can sneak in and sell our secrets to the Separatists?” Fox asked, looking from the chip to her. BD began to chirp indigently on her shoulder, causing Gaia to sigh as she shook her shoulder, _hard_. BD quieted down, but he still chirped softly in her ear. 

“You don’t,” Gaia shrugged, dropping her hands down to her side. “But that guy has a high credit bounty on his head right now by the Hutts because he defected and decided to start selling his own slaves right under the Republic’s nose.” 

“How much is the bounty?” Fox asked, his voice taking on a curious note. 

“50,000 credits,” Gaia said before she shrugged, placing her hands on her hips. “Give or take.” 

Fox was silent for a minute as he looked back down at the chip in his hand. He looked behind him to one of his troops, and they seemed to be having a silent conversation behind their buckets before he turned back to Gaia, seizing her up through his visor. Gaia could feel his gaze like a prey can feel its predator stalking them. 

“If this is a set-up,” Fox started, taking a deliberate step closer, his blaster gripped tightly in his one hand as he held the chip in the other, lifting it so it was visible between the two. They were about a foot apart by now, and if Gaia wanted, she could have BD turn on her eye, and she’d be able to look through Fox’s visor to meet his hard gaze. “You will have the _entire_ Coruscant Guard and Grand Army of the Republic reigning down on you.” 

Gaia couldn’t stop the smirk that formed on her face. “I would expect nothing less, Commander.” 

The bounty hunter took a step back then, putting space between the two, and BD got the message as she bowed softly to Fox. “Until next time.” 

Then she was gone, disappearing into the night as she lifted up into the sky, BD gripping to her shoulder like a lifeline.


	4. Chapter 4

The Duchess of Mandalore sat on her throne, watching the clip of the Mandalorian bounty hunter that Obi-Wan had brought with him on his visit. He stood off to the side, conversing with his former Padawan and the current Padawan about something, most likely the bounty hunter in question, but Satine paid them no mind, more focused on what the bounty hunter was getting up to that she would risk exposure like this. 

Though Satine didn’t believe in violence, she _did_ believe in helping those in need, and not many bounty hunters had that same mindset. This one, though, with the Mandalorian _beskar_ armor covered in all sorts of colors to show the galaxy what she’s been through, had that mindset. Satine knew her, knew how she was raised and by who, and she knew when she set her mind to something, she wouldn’t stop until it was accomplished. 

Satine watched her, seeing how she moved and listening to the way she talked, and knew without a doubt in her mind that she was smirking under her bucket the whole time. It’s who she was; she couldn’t _stop_ herself from being cocky. 

But the bounty hunter, someone she knew quite well, was in over her head. Killing the Viceroy of the Trade Federation was a big move, even for her, and Satine couldn’t help but think there was something larger at play. She glanced over at one of her guards, someone who knew the bounty hunter just as well as she did, and she nodded her head at him faintly once she saw him already looking at her. He walked out of the room just as the clip ended and Obi-Wan stepped forward once more. 

“What do you think, Duchess?” Obi-Wan asked, eyeing her as she stood from her throne and walked past her guards and up to her old friend. He still reminded her of the man she met all those years ago when they were on the run together. She couldn’t help but smile fondly at the memory. 

“I think you have yourselves a true ally, Master Kenobi,” Satine said, clasping her hands behind her back as she looked at the frozen figure of the bounty hunter. Satine cocked her head as she looked her over, not being able to help herself from wondering how she was doing. 

“You know her?” Anakin asked, stepping closer to the two, his Padawan not far behind. She was older than Satine thought, and when Obi-Wan got the chance, he talked very highly of her. Though she wasn’t his Padawan, Satine could see with the way she was standing that Obi-Wan was teaching her just as much as Anakin was. 

“I do,” Satine said, looking away from the bounty hunter to look at the Jedi. “Her name is Gaia Thorne, and she was once a member of Red Dawn, a group of Mandalorians that have pledged their loyalty to Clan Malogaan.” 

“Red Dawn,” Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard as he remembered the group. “They roam the Outer Rim seeking justice for people who can’t fight for themselves, if I’m correct.” 

Satine nodded her head as her guard walked back into the room, placing a datachip in her hand before she handed it to Anakin’s droid, R2-D2. He showed them a map of the Outer Rim, the symbol of Red Dawn appearing on several planets. Some symbols even appeared on planets controlled by the Hutts. 

“Yes, you are correct. Red Dawn collects bounties that the corrupt people of the Outer Rim put out, and they get as much information as they can before they go after the corrupt. When they’re not doing that, they go after the Hutts, freeing slaves and taking them somewhere the Hutts can’t find them,” Satine explained, motioning to the holomap before them. 

“And has Gaia gone after the Hutts herself?” Obi-Wan asked, casting his former Padawan a look at the mention of the Hutts. Satine noticed the look and ignored it, knowing it wasn’t any of her business, but she nodded her head. 

“She pretends to work for the Hutts when the bounty takes her out of Hutt Space, and then she turns the intel over to the local authorities where they can do something about it,” Satine said. “Slavery isn’t illegal in Hutt Space, but it is everywhere else in the galaxy.” 

“Didn’t the last true descendant of Clan Malogaan die several years ago?” Obi-Wan asked. Satine took a breath, closing her eyes briefly before she nodded her head, pulling up a picture of the now-deceased Jax Malogaan. 

“Jax Malogaan died on Bandomeer six years ago. Gaia was his Foundling. Everything she knows was taught to her by him,” Satine said. 

The first time Satine met Gaia was after Jax found her. She was six years old and terrified of everything, even Satine, but she warmed up to the Duchess quicker than she did Jax and his second in command. Jax always brought her back to Mandalore because Mandalore was everyone’s home, and it was during her last visit before Jax was killed that Satine gave Gaia her left vambrace as a sign of trust. 

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Ahsoka spoke, drawing Satine’s gaze to her. The Padawan had a thoughtful look on her face. “But you said Gaia _used_ to be a member of Red Dawn. Why did she leave?” 

Satine sighed softly as she looked from Ahsoka to the image of Jax before she spoke. “Jax’s death wasn’t just a loss to Red Dawn, but to the Outer Rim as a whole. He had influence everywhere with the people he’s helped. When he died, Gaia was still young and full of distrust, so she left.” 

“What happened to Red Dawn?” Anakin asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Satine removed the chip from R2 and took the second one offered to her from her guard before she placed it inside the droid. The symbols of Red Dawn were few and far between now, and none of them were anywhere _close_ to Hutt Space. 

“Red Dawn fell under new leadership before they went underground. It’s not the leadership Red Dawn wanted, either. Jax’s second in command, Nico Wren, left after Jax died, too,” Satine said. “I haven’t seen Nico since before Jax’s death.” 

“Do you know where we can find Gaia?” Obi-Wan asked, looking at Satine. Something hot formed in Satine’s chest, the familiar burn that was the need to protect, and she shook her head, keeping her walls up as she did so so the Jedi couldn’t tell she was lying. “No. I’m afraid I don’t.” 

Obi-Wan watched her for a second before he looked at his former Padawan and his current Grandpadawan before his eyes met hers again. “Very well. Thank you, Duchess Satine.” 

Satine escorted them back to their ship after that, watching them leave, her mind on Gaia and Nico and Jax and one question bouncing around all that. Gaia was up to something, something big. She always tried to one-up herself even when there was no one but herself to prove she had it in her to do it, so what was her endgame here by killing the Viceroy of the Trade Federation? 

*** 

Once they were in hyperspace headed for Coruscant, Anakin looked over at Obi-Wan, who was staring idly out of the viewport of the _Twilight_. He reached for him through the Force, practically _feeling_ his thoughts racing over everything they just learned before he spoke, drawing his former Master’s attention away from the stars of hyperspace. “She was lying, Master.” 

Obi-Wan looked over at Anakin then, his brows furrowed together. “About what?” 

“Not knowing where we can find Gaia. She knows where she is,” Anakin said, watching Obi-Wan nod his head before he reached up to stroke his beard. 

“Yes, I felt that as well,” Obi-Wan said, but he didn’t elaborate on anything else. Anakin watched him, confused. Normally, after dealing with the Duchess, he was more vocal, always having something to say about her. Nobody could get under his skin like she could. But now he was just… _quiet_. 

“Is there something on your mind?” Anakin asked. Obi-Wan was silent for a long moment, processing all the information Satine gave them today before he shook his head and sat up, looking back out the viewport. 

“This bounty hunter clearly has Satine’s trust, which is hard to acquire, especially now after their Civil War ended and she became leader of her people,” Obi-Wan said, his voice thoughtful as he thought of something else Anakin wasn’t privy to. “And during our conversation with her after she killed the Viceroy, the Council and myself discovered she has the trust of someone in the Senate, but we don’t know who.” 

Anakin processed that information and furrowed his brows, giving his former Master a confused look. “What does that all mean?” 

Obi-Wan simply looked at his former Padawan, an unreadable look on his face as he dropped his hand from his beard. “I don’t know.” 

“Masters.” Anakin and Obi-Wan turned away from each other to look at Ahsoka, who easily picked up on the strange atmosphere in the cockpit. She looked between the two before she shook her head faintly. “Senator Amidala wants to speak with us. She says it’s urgent.” 

Anakin shared a look with Obi-Wan before he was turning to accept the incoming transmission from Padmé. When her figure emerged before the three, she looked a little disheveled, like she spent the entire night awake trying to figure something out, but what that was, Anakin couldn’t tell. 

“Senator Amidala. How goes things on Coruscant?” Obi-Wan asked, sitting up some in his seat. The ghost of a smile crossed Padmé’s face before it disappeared completely, and Anakin could see she was trying to fight off a sigh that wanted to pass her lips. He immediately got the feeling like something was wrong. 

Instead of answering Obi-Wan’s question, though, Padmé asked her own. “Did Duchess Satine give you any information about the bounty hunter?” 

“She did,” Obi-Wan said, noticing something was off with Padmé as well. “The bounty hunter's name is Gaia Thorne, and she seems to be an interesting person.” 

“She is, from what Commander Fox told me about his encounter with her last night,” Padmé said, folding her hands together in front of her. Anakin’s eyes widened just a fraction before he looked at Obi-Wan. 

“What happened?” Anakin asked, noticing the tension starting to build up in the cockpit from the three Jedi. If what Satine told them was true, then there was nothing to worry about from the Mandalorian. Not really. But if she had connections in the neutral system of Mandalore and in the Republic’s own Senate, the bounty hunter could be a ticking time bomb they were all waiting for to go off. 

“The bounty hunter - _Gaia_ \- gave Commander Fox a datachip full of information regarding a former member of the Hutt Clan who defected and planned on starting up his own slave ring in the lower levels of Coruscant.” Padmé paused, taking in a breath, before she continued. “The Coruscant Guard set up a sting operation earlier this morning based on the information on the chip, and seventeen people were arrested and at least fifty slaves were freed.” 

The news was like an explosion, knocking the three Jedi back a step as they processed what Padmé just told them before the words Satine told them earlier set in. It confirmed what the Duchess said, and it proved that maybe, just maybe, the Jedi and the Republic really did have an ally on their side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beskar - Mandalorian iron used in Mandalorian armor


	5. Chapter 5

“What do you got for me, Nico?” Gaia asked, walking through her ship before she reached the cockpit, only to see Nico already punching in the coordinates for their destination. Gaia cocked a brow at him, watching him work, before he looked up at her, his bucket in the chair behind him and his armor covering his body. 

“Scarif,” Nico said, turning back around in the co-pilot's seat to start getting the ship ready for takeoff. Gaia watched him for a second before she took her spot in the _Falcon’s_ pilot seat, flipping switches and pushing buttons as Nico continued. “Apparently one of Gunray’s former associates retired there, and he’s mentioned in a lot of the files you got from the Federation.” 

“You think he might have some answers?” Gaia asked, picking the ship off the ground before she swerved the _Falcon_ into a lane that would take her into orbit. Nico, who was just finishing punching in the coordinates for Scarif, nodded his head. 

“It’s worth a shot. And if he doesn’t have anything, at least we can rule him off the list of people we probably _should_ hunt down and talk to,” Nico said, giving Gaia a look as she scrunched her face up at his words. He then rolled his eyes at her before they entered the atmosphere. “What?” 

“You’re paying for fuel if this leads to nothing,” Gaia deadpanned, causing Nico to snort at her words before BD chirped from his spot by the wall, letting the two know they were ready to jump to hyperspace when they were in the right lane. 

“And here I thought we could go on an adventure together _before_ you started making me pay for things,” Nico said, an air of humor to his words. Gaia shook her head and reached over to the levers, grabbing half as she looked at Nico. 

“Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but you were _very_ wrong,” Gaia said as they pushed the lever and jumped to hyperspace. Nico snorted before he stood up, placing his hand on Gaia’s shoulder. “I’m well aware.” 

“Where are you going?” Gaia asked, watching him make his way out of the cockpit. He grabbed his bucket as he left, and Gaia got up to follow him. BD chirped at her, and she nodded her head before the droid jumped in the pilot's seat, getting comfortable. Gaia smiled fondly at him before she followed Nico into the main room. 

Datapads were strewn about the place, all connected by various cords and plugged into different ports. He was still trying to splice into some of the files Gaia stole from the Trade Federation. Finding the file they did on their guy on Scarif this soon came as a shock to Gaia, especially when he commed her early in the morning while she was at Dex’s Diner, her armor back at his apartment, his voice urgent and telling her he found a lead. 

When she got back to his apartment after telling Dex she would be back soon ( _hopefully_ ), it was to this exact mess she walked into, datapads all over the place and the threat of tripping over cords. BD was just as shocked as she was, but they packed everything up, downed their armor, slipped robes on, and headed for the _Falcon_. Now it was the same mess in her very own ship, and Gaia didn’t know if she was aggravated or impressed by how much he was working on at once. 

When they were still part of Red Dawn, this was Nico’s exact job. He always picked apart information they were given to find them someone awful to get rid of, freeing the galaxy of one more bad person, and Jax always told Gaia that he was part droid, that there was so much information inside his head that it was like he was built in a lab. Gaia knew he was just picking on Nico, but Nico always threw something heavy at his head whenever he told someone that. 

Nico was just a child prodigy, taking easily to anything with wires and transmitters and was made of metal. It was with his help, after Jax died, that Gaia got BD operational again. It was with his help that they were going to find the failsafe Nute Gunray hid away somewhere and help the Republic end the war, saving thousands of lives across the galaxy. 

Gaia was never in it for the glory. She was found and saved just like so many other people Red Dawn has helped. She may not carry Red Dawn’s symbol on her left shoulder anymore, but it was practically engraved into her own skin, and she still felt a loyalty to them that made her feel like she had a place in the galaxy. 

“Ignore the mess,” Nico said, waving around the room as he walked over and grabbed the main datapad he’s been using for this set-up. Gaia cocked a brow at him, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the doorway. “But I found something that might help the Republic.” 

“Like what?” Gaia asked, deciding to walk into the room. She looked at all the datapads, the screens showing different things, offering different information, and none of it made sense in Gaia’s head. Nico handed her the datapad he was working with, and she read it over, her breath catching in her throat. “The Separatists are building a new droid foundry?” 

Gaia looked at Nico and saw the same look on his face that she felt in her chest; _dread_. More droids meant more deaths, and with the Kaminoans already being greedy bastards regarding the clones, the Republic and the Jedi didn’t have enough men to fight thousands of more droids. They’re already spread thin, this would just be the icing on the cake for them. 

“Where?” Gaia asked, trying to read over the ‘pad and find the answer for herself, but Nico took the ‘pad from her and shrugged, typing away on another ‘pad absently as he spoke. “No idea. I’m only part of the way into the file. I don’t even know if it’s operational yet.” 

“Do you think you can have it cracked by the time we get to Scarif?” Gaia asked, already forming a plan in her head on how to get the information to the Republic as they hopped to a neutral planet. 

“Probably, but I might need BD’s help,” Nico said, setting the ‘pad down as he picked up another. 

“BD, turn on the autopilot and come here!” Gaia shouted, her voice carrying through the ship. There was the sound of something turning on before the sound of metal hitting metal sounded through the ship as BD chirped in annoyance, as if having been just woken up. Gaia grimaced. He was probably on low-power mode, keeping an eye on the ship for her. 

“What can I help with?” Gaia asked, watching BD make himself at home on the dejarik table. BD had insisted that Gaia put it in, and he liked to play himself whenever Gaia was working on something else. He reminded Gaia of a child whenever he messed up his own game, because then he would sulk and lock himself in the number two hold. 

“Three’s a crowd, Gaia. Get lost,” was Nico’s response, and Gaia glared at him before she punched his shoulder, causing him to laugh at her. 

“ _Fine_. I’ll be at my bench working on some droids,” Gaia grumbled, walking out of the room and down the hall before she entered her room. It was technically the third hold, but she converted it into her room when she spent more time here than anywhere else on the _Falcon_ , minus the cockpit. The actual sleep quarters on the ship were more for storage than anything else, but BD liked going in there to recharge, so Gaia guessed it was more his room than anything else. 

As Gaia sat down and pulled out her tools to work on the latest droid she found - a C1 series astromech - she let the lull of Nico and BD conversing in the other room wash over her, quieting her thoughts. 

*** 

Scarif was hot and muggy. The coolness of the _Falcon_ was all but sucked out the second the ramp dropped down, exposing them to the heat and sun and smell of salt water and aquatic species, and Gaia could already feel sand somehow making its way into her boots. She grumbled under her breath, much to the amusement of Nico, who didn’t seem to mind the heat. 

Gaia wished it would kriff off. 

They were in a decently sized town on one of the bigger islands the planet had to offer. The planet was mostly water, but there were thousands upon _thousands_ of islands spread across the way, some being sandy beaches that were hot spots for tourists, others being vast jungles with all sorts of flora and fauna for the locals to take and use as they pleased. Others were the works of volcanoes, offering rich and fertile land for anyone that dared go in those directions. 

“Did you finish splicing the file?” Gaia asked, looking over at Nico as he exited the ship, a datapad in hand. He passed it over to her, and she furrowed her brows under her bucket as she read over the words. 

“It’s shielded,” Gaia said absently, scrolling through the file, reading over the start of construction date, how many droids it planned to produce, the structure of it, and the location. “And it’s on Geonosis.” 

“Right where the war started,” Nico said, placing his hands on his hips. Gaia shook her head and passed the ‘pad back to Nico, who took it. Gaia looked out over the water, watching the blue waves hit the white sand, before she sighed. 

“I’ll take BD back into the ship and send a message to the closest Star Destroyer, tell them as vaguely as I can about the intel you found and where to find us if they want it,” Gaia said, motioning BD back into the ship, and he went without complaint, taking a boatload of sand with him. Gaia suppressed a groan at the sight. 

“I’ll start scoping out the area to see if I can find our guy,” Nico said, stepping off the ramp to join Gaia in the sand. Even on the landing pad, there was sand everywhere. Gaia nodded her head at him as he slipped his bucket on. 

“Keep your comlink open. I’ll come join you when I’m done,” Gaia said. Nico turned to head out through the sand and to head into town, but he paused before he did, glancing at Gaia as she climbed back up into the ship. As if feeling Nico staring at her, Gaia turned on the ramp and looked at him through her bucket, offering him a faint nod. Nico tilted his head in acknowledgment before he was gone, disappearing into the throng of people exiting the port. 

Gaia disappeared into her ship, prepping the message in her head for the Republic, as a bad feeling filled the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t seem to shake off.


	6. Chapter 6

Ahsoka was on the _Resolute_ for barely a day before she was called to the bridge, a mission for her and Captain Rex waiting for them. Obi-Wan had received a transmission on his way through the Outer Rim to help aid Master Plo in his and the Wolfpacks campaign, and the closest battalion to them was the 501st. The transmission was decoded and was discussed among the Council before Obi-Wan contacted Anakin, detailing the mission. 

“There’s someone on Scarif with intel regarding the Separatists,” Anakin said to both Ahsoka and Rex, his arms crossed over his chest. Ahsoka could tell he didn’t like the thought of sending Ahsoka and Rex out on their own, but Scarif was a mostly neutral system, the keyword to that being _mostly_. The Republic couldn’t prove Separatists' movements through the system, but almost the entire GAR knew Scarif wasn’t as neutral as they claimed to be. 

“What type of intel?” Ahsoka asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at the holoprojector before her on the bridge, showing the point where the message came from; the place she and Rex would be going. 

“Apparently, the Separatists are building a new droid foundry on Geonosis,” Anakin said, seeming to tighten his grip on his arms as they were still crossed. Ahsoka knew her Master was there during the First Battle of Geonosis, knew he lost his arm there, knew a lot of Jedi and clones died that day, and something tight and uncomfortable filled her chest. “If it’s true, we need that intel before we plan any type of campaign.” 

“Who are we looking for, sir, when we get there?” Rex asked, an odd tension in his shoulders. Ahsoka remembered, then, that he was also present at the First Battle of Geonosis, was in the same gunship as Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, was _knocked out of said gunship_ with Padmé. He lost a lot of brothers that day, and that was just the _beginning_ of the war. 

Anakin was silent for a moment, looking at the map of Scarif before them, before he looked between his Padawan and Captain. “The Council never provided me with names, meaning the person who has the intel didn’t provide their name to Obi-Wan when they sent the message.” 

“How are we supposed to find them, then?” Ahsoka asked. Anakin, who has very little grace and a proper posture on a _good_ day, shrugged his shoulders. Then a smug look crossed his face. “Use the Force, my young Padawan.” 

Ahsoka could practically _see_ the look Rex was giving Anakin at that comment, though he was wearing his bucket. But Ahsoka couldn’t help the faint smile that formed on her face at his words, because if Obi-Wan was here, he would _definitely_ say that exact same thing to her. They were more alike than Anakin cared to admit, but it was absolutely _hilarious_ to Ahoska. 

“Very well,” Ahsoka said, grabbing the data from the holoprojector before her and Rex left the bridge, but not before Anakin stopped her in her tracks. “May the Force be with you, both of you. And _don’t_ cause any trouble.” 

Ahsoka simply flashed him a smirk before the doors slid shut behind them. When they got to the hanger, they elected to take any ship but the _Twilight_ , seeing as how, on their way back to the fleet, they ran into some trouble and the ship looked like it wasn’t going to get them to where they needed to go. 

Once they initiated the takeoff sequence, Rex looked over at Ahsoka. “I have a bad feeling about this.” 

“C’mon, Rex,” Ahsoka said, sending them into hyperspace. “It could be fun.” 

All Rex did was snort at her words, but Ahsoka couldn’t help the feeling of dread filling her veins, and she had to hope the Force would be on their side for once. 

*** 

The heat was brutal, and it made Gaia irritated. They scoured half the city the first day, and by the second day, she and Nico still hadn’t been able to find anything about the retired Trade Federation advisory. It made Gaia feel like this was a useless trip, that they were being thrown off the trail, and her thoughts began to spiral, making her question if the failsafe even existed at all. 

But then the morning of the third day arrived, and the man they were looking for, Esik Mo, appeared in the market area where Gaia and Nico were currently sitting, people-watching. Nico nudged Gaia’s foot under the table, his eyes not leaving Esik, and when Gaia turned, she knew, without a doubt, that that was their guy. 

“Looks like he wants some breakfast,” Gaia mumbled, watching him enter a diner up the street. Nico nodded his head, and Gaia nudged BD, getting him to look at her and not at the stand full of droid parts not even ten feet from them. “Keep an eye on those doors, BD. Tell us when he comes out.” 

BD chirped at her, still looking at the droid stand, and Gaia sighed. “ _Fine_. After we’re done here on Scarif, I’ll buy you some parts and work on you once we’re aboard the _Falcon_ again. Deal?” 

BD looked pleased, and the next set of chirps he gave her were nothing but full of happiness. His processors needed replacing, as did his left leg, but that could wait until they were done here and in hyperspace heading for their next location. With the knowledge he’d finally be getting the upgrade and repairs Gaia has been promising him for weeks, he turned to watch the door of the diner, content. 

Nico gave her an amused look, and all she could do was sigh before she was leaning back in her seat, looking around again. Her bucket was off, as was Nico’s, and their armor was dutifully covered from prying eyes. The mornings, where the sun was still low in the sky, were the coolest, but walking around with the robes covering her armor during the day was absolute _hell_. She’d take the small reprieve and just enjoy a beautiful morning with Nico over a cup of caf. 

“When do you figure the Republic will be here to collect the intel?” Nico asked, keeping his voice quiet so as not to alert anyone what was going on. Getting intel from a Separatist and then giving _other_ intel to the Republic was something no one needed to know about, but no one really seemed to care, not even when the two Mandalorians walked by them during the middle of the day, buckets on, hoods up, and completely covered head to toe in the brutal heat. 

“Soon, hopefully. I want the intel from this guy as soon as we can get it, and then I want off this planet,” Gaia said, picking up her cup of caf and taking a drink. Finding good quality caf was hard to come by when all she did was hit up sleazy ports for food, so having something good enter her body for once was one of the few good things about the tropical planet. 

“You gotta admit though,” Nico said, taking a sip of his caf as he looked around the market, watching people pass them by. “It’s beautiful here. So peaceful.” 

“But so _hot_ ,” Gaia groaned, feeling the tell-tale sign of sweat forming on her skin once more, right above the scar on her left eye, making it itch. She rubbed it away. “Every time I step out of the fresher, I get covered in more sweat.” 

“You should’ve seen some of the places Jax and I went to, then, when we were younger,” Nico said, smirking at Gaia. Gaia looked at him, always enjoying his stories about their deceased friend. “Tatooine is nothing but sand and heat and it sticks to you for _days_ after you leave.” 

“Yeah, but I feel Tatooine isn’t as bad as this place,” Gaia said, shrugging. Nico gave her a look before she continued. “Tatooine’s hot and dry and there’s no massive body of water. Scarif, on the other hand, is hot and humid, making it ten times worse. All thanks to the water _you’ve_ been ogling since we arrived. If you wanna go for a swim, just say so, and I’ll give you a push.” 

“I don’t swim,” Nico deadpanned, giving her a look that drew a smirk to Gaia’s face. “Right. Sorry. How could I forget? You don’t know _how_ to swim.” 

“ _I know how to swim_ , you _di’kut_. I just don’t _like_ to,” Nico grumbled, slumping back in his chair. Gaia smiled at him and went to say something to him, probably another insult, but the words froze on her lips when she looked out over the market, seeing a Togruta, probably a couple of years younger than herself, trying to blend into the shadows of the back of a market stall, talking to a man. When the man turned to look out at the market, Gaia saw the face of Jango Fett, but then quickly remembered he was dead, and that the man was definitely a clone. 

As Gaia looked at the two, she could see the faint outline of something hanging off the Togruta’s hip, most likely a lightsaber, and the color of white and blue under the robes the man wore, showing his armor. His bucket was sitting beside them on an unoccupied table. Gaia, under the table, kicked Nico, who cursed before he looked at her, confused. “What?” 

Gaia looked at him, trying not to be obvious. She picked up her caf and, speaking over the rim, clued him in on people from the Republic being here. “Over by the market stall, the one with the meiloorun’s, what do you see?” 

Nico glanced over slowly, trying not to draw attention to himself, and saw the same thing she did. When he turned back to face her, he gave her a look. “A Jedi and a clone.” 

“Found our envoy,” Gaia said, finishing her caf. She went to stand up and head over to them, but BD chirped at her, gaining her attention. She looked over at him as he looked from her to the diner up ahead, seeing Esik walking out, a bag in his hands. Gaia cursed. “And guess who decided to leave the diner?” 

Nico turned to look at the diner, seeing Esik walking up towards them, not knowing he was probably going to get jumped in an alleyway and forced to answer some questions. As he walked by, Gaia kept her gaze from lingering too much, but when she looked away to see where the Jedi and clone were, she made eye contact with the Togruta across the way. 

Gaia held her gaze for a second longer than she should have, but just staring at someone doesn’t give her away. When she averted her gaze, she looked at Nico, who was standing up, grabbing his bucket in the process and slipping it on before he pulled his hood up. Gaia was quick to follow, BD hopping on her shoulder as they followed after Esik Mo. 

He weaved in and out of the market stalls, oblivious to the Mandalorians following him. He cut through an alley as the sun rose higher in the sky, and Gaia looked at Nico, signing to him the plan, and he nodded, continuing his tailing of the man as Gaia flew up to the roofs, watching from above. 

It took a while for Esik to get someplace where no one else was around, and Gaia questioned that for all but a second before she dropped down in front of him, startling him. She stood at her full height, watching him, before he quickly turned around, hoping to escape, but Nico was there, rounding the corner, blocking him in the alley. 

The Neimoidia looked terrified, and if Gaia wasn’t so desperate for information on the failsafe, she would feel ashamed of herself. But she couldn’t think of that right now. She needed information, and he had it. 

“Look, whatever Dooku paid you, I can double it! It doesn’t - you _don’t have to do this_!” Esik said, his voice shaking. Gaia cocked her head at him, confused. 

“And what makes you think we’re working for Dooku?” Gaia asked, keeping her hands to her sides. Esik looked from her back to Nico, his hands raised in surrender and a form of defense, before he looked back to her, a confused look to his eyes. 

“Because, you-” Esik paused, taking a deep breath, as if to calm himself. “You found me. The only person who knew where I was is Nute Gunray, and he promised to keep my location secret.” 

Gaia watched him, not understanding what was going on, as she eyed him. He lowered his hands, almost as if he was giving up, before he looked down slightly, his voice dropping. “Dooku knows what I’ve done. What Nute was planning in case Dooku crossed the line.” 

“You’re talking about the failsafe.” It wasn’t a question, not really, and Esik looked from Nico to Gaia, his eyes wide. That seemed to be answer enough. “How do you-” 

“Drunk people are the worst secret keepers,” Gaia said, taking a step forward, the sun catching on her armor as she looked Esik over. This wasn’t what she was expecting when they tailed Esik through the market, but Gaia wasn’t going to complain, though the whole ordeal was starting to make less and less sense. 

“We’re not working for Dooku. We heard a rumor about the failsafe from someone on Takodana, so we broke into Gunray’s office and stole as many files as we could that could hopefully lead us to it. You’re our first lead,” Gaia said. Nico stepped forward, his demeanor calm and lacking any threat, as did Gaia’s. Esik looked between the two before he sighed. “But if you found me, Dooku and his army aren’t too far behind.” 

“We’ll be gone _long_ before they get here, but we need you to tell us where we can find the failsafe,” Nico said. Esik looked at Nico, studying him for a long moment. Then he sighed, nodding his head. 

“I have a chip full of everything I know about it back at my place. Follow me and-” 

A blaster bolt sounded through the air, and Gaia reacted, pushing Esik out of the way, but not before the bolt pierced him in the chest, knocking him down. Gaia cursed loudly, looking around as Nico went into action, BD chirping incessantly. Another shot sounded, and Gaia ducked down, grabbing Esik, and pulled the both of them behind a crate. 

“Find that sniper!” Gaia shouted at Nico, who was already scanning the rooftops. Gaia looked down at Esik, seeing him struggling to breath, struggling to speak, and Gaia removed her bucket and leaned down, trying to piece together what he was saying. 

“33B,” Esik said, struggling to speak loud enough for Gaia to hear. “Tallest building...can’t...miss it.” 

“Shh,” Gaia said, applying pressure to the wound, but it was useless. The Mandalorian watched as Esik took in a breath, his words shaky. “Stop...Dooku.” 

Then he was gone, slipping away, marching on to the next stage of life. Nico jumped over the crate and landed on the other side of her, looking from her to Esik, seeing his unmoving form, and Gaia could hear the resignation in his voice when he spoke. “I couldn’t find the droid. That bastard was hiding well, but someone else got to him.” 

Gaia grit her teeth and pulled her bucket on, looking in the direction the shots came from as she carefully peeked over the crate, not seeing anything. It was a droid, that much was obvious. But who destroyed it? 

“So, what?” Gaia asked, turning to look at Nico, her expression morphing under her bucket in irritation and anger. “We have a bounty hunter on our tail and the Separatists?” 

Nico didn’t say anything, watching something behind her, and Gaia furrowed her brows, sitting up again to look as BD began to chirp at her, just as confused as she was. “I don’t think it was a bounty hunter.” 

As Nico spoke, Gaia watched as the Jedi and clone rounded the corner, looking for trouble, but they only saw the top of two Mandalorians heads and BD’s curious gaze. Gaia looked back at Nico, cocking a brow under her bucket, before she stood, her hand instinctively going for the blaster on her hip before she refrained from doing so. 

“Nice call, following us from the market,” Gaia said in form of a greeting. The Jedi cocked her head, eyeing her. Her lekku and montrals matched the blue of the clones' armor, and Gaia highly thought that that was intentional, more likely coincidence. 

“I recognized the armor the second you put your bucket on,” the Jedi responded, and Gaia felt a little smug at that. Nico, who stood off her shoulder after having said that, sighed loudly at the Jedi’s words. 

“Why did you have to say that? Now she’s going to be insufferable for a _week_ ,” Nico said, and Gaia didn’t stop herself from elbowing him in the stomach, metal hitting metal. Nico didn’t do anything in retaliation but mumble profanities under his breath. 

But Gaia turned to him, her thoughts turning to what Esik told her before he died, and she spoke, addressing him. “Take them back to the _Falcon_ and give them the intel about the droid foundry and I’ll head to Esik’s apartment to get the chip that has information about the failsafe.” 

“Be safe,” Nico said, looking at her through his bucket. “We don’t know how many droids are here.” 

“Could’ve just been an assassin droid,” Gaia said, but she wasn’t that optimistic to believe that. Looking back to the Jedi and clone, she asked, “What type of droid was it?” 

“Commando droid,” the clone said, and Gaia grimaced under her bucket. 

“So, definitely not an assassin droid,” Gaia said, looking back at Nico. “I’ll meet you at the ship.” 

“ _K'oyacyi_ ,” Nico said. Gaia nodded her head, touching her bucket to his for a brief _kov'nyn_ before she was making her way out of the alley, looking for Esik’s apartment building. Once she had the datachip, she would be one step closer to helping the Republic end the war, but she needed to find it first and get off this planet alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _di'kut_ \- idiot  
>  _k'oyacyi_ \- stay alive  
>  _kov'nyn_ \- mandalorian headbutt; keldabe kiss


	7. Chapter 7

Finding the datachip was easy enough with the help of BD. Getting out of the building and finding it surrounded by droids made getting back to the _Falcon_ hard, especially when Gaia noticed a human among them all, giving orders, her voice carrying all the way up to the thirty-third floor. It was full of ice and an ounce of satisfaction, and when she looked up, seeing Gaia in the window, she ordered the droids to surround the building before she motioned for some commandos to follow her as she entered through the front entrance. 

But Gaia knew that person, remembered the cool malice she carried with her when she carved out that clones’ eye with her blood-red lightsaber. Remembered the feel of it against her own skin, doing the same thing to her, leaving the two of them bloody and in excruciating amounts of pain, hardly registering when someone broke into the facility to get them out. 

Asajj Ventress, a _darjetii_. 

Gaia felt ice in her veins as she exited the apartment, making her way up the stairwell to the roof, pulling out her comm as she went. “Nico, I’m gonna need a pickup.” 

“Gonna have to wait a minute. Vulture droids blew up the Republic ship and the Jedi and clone came in, and now the droids after us,” Nico said, his voice strained as he probably turned the ship in an impossible maneuver to avoid getting hit. 

“Well, I don’t _have_ a minute because that _darjetii_ Ventress is here and has at least _six_ commandos with her,” Gaia said, pushing open the door to the roof, looking out over the town, seeing the _Falcon_ in the distance, fighting off the vulture droids. Gaia watched as Nico twisted in the air, dropping the ship, before he moved, giving whoever was working the turret at the bottom of the ship a chance to shoot and fire. 

“ _Kriff_. Send me your location. I’ll get to you once these droids are gone,” Nico responded. BD sent out the coordinates easily as the door to the stairwell opened, blaster bolts firing past Gaia’s head. She ducked and rolled before a vent, pulling her blasters out with ease before she shot up, taking aim and firing. 

One of the six commandos went down, but the other’s bounced around, making it almost impossible for Gaia to get a shot in. She jumped up in the air, her blasters aimed, as she moved around them, confusing them, at lightning speed. 

A blaster bolt redirected at her and knocked her blaster out of her hand, singeing the cloth in the spot on her wrist that got hit, causing her to curse before she noticed Ventress standing among the droids, smirking up at her. Gaia didn’t have to think twice as she shot a whistling bird at her, intending to move higher in the air, but something was shutting her jetpack off, dragging her back to the roof as the explosion sounded. Then Gaia was slammed into the ground, her jetpack sparking, causing her to quickly remove the robe covering her body so it didn’t catch fire. 

Gaia was distracted for all of a second before she felt something wrap around her throat, cutting off her air supply, before Ventress emerged from the smoke, the smirk never having left her face. Gaia struggled to breathe as Ventress walked up to her, a wolfish look on her face. “Long time no see, _Mandalorian_. Maybe now we can finally finish our playdate that was so rudely interrupted by the _Jedi_.” 

Plo Koon was the first Jedi she ever met, simply because he stormed the keep Gaia and the clone - _Wolffe_ \- were holed up in, knowing nothing but constant pain. She enjoyed torturing one of them if the other acted out in any fashion, and having a _darjetii_ in her head at all times left her with a pain she didn’t know was imaginable. 

But then it ended when the Jedi came, and when no one was looking, she took one of their ships and met up with Nico and BD back on Zeffo, where they were originally separated. When Nico saw her, saw the blood covering her and her eye long gone, he wanted nothing more than to hunt down the Sith and end her just as badly as Gaia did. 

Gaia gasped for breath, her hands going up to her neck to try and get the invisible hands off her, but it was no use. She choked out, “You’re overly confident for someone who lost to a bunch of _clones_.” 

Ventress’ grip tightened on her neck, and Gaia began to see dark spots. She stepped closer to her, and that was the _darjetii’s_ first mistake. 

Gaia pushed a button on her vambrace, shooting fire at the Sith, who let her go to avoid the burn that was bound to come. Gaia gasped as her lungs filled with the oxygen she was deprived of, before she quickly scrambled to her feet and sent off another whistling bird. 

BD chirped loudly at her, and Gaia turned quickly to see he was pushing her blaster to her. Gaia leaped for it, picking it up and firing at the _darjetii_ , knowing it wouldn’t really do anything, but she wasn’t going to let the Sith do anything else. Ventress dodged the shots easily with her ‘saber, sending them flying across the roof. 

From above, the sound of a ship getting closer drew her attention, and Gaia looked up quickly, seeing the _Falcon_ speeding towards them. Gaia looked back at Ventress, who eyed the ship with an angry glint to her eyes, before she reached for Gaia again through the Force. But BD was behind her, sticking out his leg and sending an electric pulse up her body, causing her to drop her ‘saber. 

As the ship got closer, Gaia took that as her chance to shoot at Ventress, and she was very pleased with herself when she managed to get a shot to the _darjetii’s_ shoulder, knocking her off balance. BD chirped at her as the _Falcon_ lowered, the ramp opening, the clone holding on to one of the pipes as he reached a hand out to her. 

Gaia ran for the ramp, hauling BD to her shoulder before she jumped, taking the clones’ hand with ease before he dragged her back into the ship, closing the ramp. 

Through the burn in her throat, she shouted for Nico to move it, and they were shooting up into the sky, Gaia ripping her bucket off as she leaned against the wall, catching her breath. She looked at the clone, whose bucket was long gone, and she cursed. “I kriffing _hate_ Sith.” 

“You and me both,” the clone said, offering her a faint smile. Gaia made a sound in the back of her throat as she looked at him before she stood up some, offering up her own smile. “Names Gaia, by the way.” 

“Rex,” he said. Gaia nodded and stuck out her hand, and Rex took all but a second to react, grabbing her forearm with his hand. _Mandalorian handshake_ , she thought, and wondered how Mandalorian he _was_. 

“Gaia, you’re gonna wanna see this,” Nico’s voice said through the ship's comm system, and Gaia scrunched up her face, wondering if she really wanted to. She walked down the hall, Rex right behind her, before they walked into the cockpit. 

They were in space, just breaching the last layer of the planet, and Gaia saw easily what Nico was getting at. A Separatist frigate, with several vulture droids coming at them, fast. Gaia didn’t even have to say anything as Nico stood up from the pilots' seat, allowing Gaia to take over. 

“Someone’s gonna have to take over the gun or we’re not gonna make it very far,” Gaia said, flipping the switches necessary to turn on the forward deflector shields. 

“It’s stuck in forward position. It’s useless at the moment,” Nico said from behind her, seeming to not care about the Jedi sitting in his co-pilot seat. Gaia bit her tongue to stop herself from saying something rude to Nico with strangers around, so she simply turned to give him a sideways glare. “Well, _Nico_ , if you’d like to live and see another day, it’ll have to _do_.” 

Nico stared at her, but it was broken when the vulture droids began shooting at them, making the ship shake. He mumbled something under his breath about the gun always getting stuck in forward position whenever they needed it most. “You need a new ship.” 

He left after that, heading for the gun, as Gaia flipped some switches before she shouted over her shoulder. “And you need a new attitude!” 

“I hope you’re good at flying,” Gaia said, directing the statement to the Jedi sitting next to her as Rex took a seat behind the Jedi. The Jedi looked at her, something akin to apprehension on her face. “But you must be if you managed to keep up with Nico back on Scarif.” 

“Why do I have a feeling you have something awful planned?” The Jedi asked, and all Gaia did was smirk at her before she yanked harshly on the yokes, arching the ship upwards at a fast incline. BD made an abrupt sound behind her before she heard metal hitting a wall. 

“BD, _now_ would be the time to anchor yourself to the floor,” Gaia said, turning to look at him as Rex picked him up and simply held him. BD didn’t seem to be complaining; he didn’t like her flying, no matter if they were just jumping to hyperspace. 

“What’s your plan for getting us out of here?” Rex asked from his seat, watching as Gaia twisted the ship to the side. The sound of Nico firing at the vulture droids sounded through the ship up to them, and Gaia felt a couple of shots hit the side of the _Falcon_. 

“We just gotta get past the frigate, and then we can make the jump to hyperspace,” Gaia said, twisting through the vastness of space to avoid getting hit. “Divert all auxiliary power to the rear deflector shields.” 

The Jedi didn’t need to be told twice, and she got to work flipping the necessary switches as she glanced at Gaia. “And from there?” 

“Well, since your ship is no longer operational, I guess we’ll have to take you back to your battalion, or Coruscant, or wherever the hell you came from before this,” Gaia said, trying not to grind her teeth too much as she twisted in the air again, feeling her stomach swoop with the motion. 

“That’s if we make it out of this alive,” Rex grunted, holding onto his seat as BD held tightly onto him. Gaia couldn’t help the faint smile that formed on her face as she spoke. “C’mon, Rex, have a little faith. I’m an _excellent_ pilot.” 

“Gaia, a couple of droids got past me,” Nico shouted through the ship's comm. Gaia looked to her left, seeing the vulture droids, and she cursed, reaching for the power switch. 

“Hang on!” Gaia shouted, turning the ship off, letting them drop through space. Rex cursed in his seat and the Jedi mumbled something under her breath, probably her own curse, as they tumbled back down to Scarif’s atmosphere. 

“Nico, are you gonna _shoot them_ or are you just gonna sit there and look pretty?” Gaia shouted, trying to keep the ship under control as they fell. Nico shouted something back, but it was hard to hear what he said due to the ship getting hit once more. Gaia cursed, feeling her blood begin to simmer in anger, at the Separatists or at Nico, she couldn't tell, before Nico shouted again, “Got it!” 

Gaia quickly powered the ship back up before they got caught in Scarif’s atmosphere, shooting forward as more shots hit the ship. The frigate grew closer as Gaia maneuvered out of the line of fire from the droids. “BD, get ready to make the jump to hyperspace.” 

BD jumped down from Rex’s lap as he went to the wall next to him, plugging his scomp link into the port as he got to work. Gaia twisted the ship through the air, flying upside down, as they got to the frigate, before Nico began firing at the underside of it. For reasons completely unknown to Gaia, their shields were down, probably because they saw the _Falcon_ and didn’t think it had the speed or maneuverability to avoid its droids. Whatever the reason, Gaia couldn’t seem to care. 

She twisted upwards as Nico kept firing, and BD chirped at her, letting her know they were good to make the jump to hyperspace. Gaia smirked, listening to Nico fire off a couple more shots, before they were clear of the frigate. Then they were jumping to lightspeed, leaving Scarif and the droids and Ventress behind. 

*** 

“BD, run a diagnostics check on the _Falcon_ , make sure nothing got damaged beside the gun,” the Mandalorian said, standing from the pilots' seat as she looked at her droid, who chirped something at her that made Ahsoka smile faintly in amusement. 

“ _Don’t_ start about the gun,” she warned before she walked out of the cockpit, leaving Ahsoka and Rex behind. Ahsoka turned the chair around, looking at Rex, who was giving her a withering look. “I told you I had a bad feeling about this.” 

“Well, we’re not dead yet,” Ahsoka said, knowing it probably wasn’t the right thing to say, and Rex’s look just darkened. “I don’t know if that makes me feel any better.” 

It didn’t make Ahsoka feel any better herself, if she was being honest, but they were alive, and they had the intel for the droid foundry. They just had to get back to Anakin and the 501st before her Master managed to drag himself and their men into their own trouble. There was one thing she was glad about, though, and that was that they didn’t bring the _Twilight_ with them, and Ahsoka said as much to Rex, who huffed a laugh. 

“I don’t think the General would take too kindly to know we managed to get his ship blown up,” Rex said, and Ahsoka couldn’t agree more. 

_There’s always explosions when Gaia’s involved_ , BD chirped at them as he began the diagnostic check, looking at them. _Nico, too. It’s a Mandalorian thing_. 

“So this isn’t the first time something like this has happened?” Rex asked, and BD looked at him before he shook his head. Ahsoka didn’t like the sound of that and got a feeling like this won’t be the last explosion that’ll happen while they’re stuck with the Mandalorians. 

Ahsoka nudged Rex’s leg with her own, gaining his attention, and she nodded towards the hallway, wanting to go see the rest of the ship. When she first saw it when Nico led them to it, she wondered if it could actually _fly_ , but now that she was inside it, she was actually impressed. 

Rex followed her out of the cockpit, leaving BD alone to work, and the two entered what looked like the common room, seeing nothing but a mess. Datapads were strewn everywhere, all connected in one way or another, and it was a miracle the two Mandalorians managed to walk around the place without tripping. 

“Did you get the datachip before Ventress arrived?” Nico asked Gaia, looking over at her, his bucket laying on the top of a table, an abandoned game of dejarik laying open. Gaia’s sat right next to his, staring at both her and Rex. 

“What do you take me for?” Gaia asked, passing over a chip which Nico took gladly, walking over to the dejarik table and turning the game off before inserting the chip. Nothing popped up like Ahsoka thought it would, but Nico seemed to have expected that, grabbing a datapad and unplugging it from the collection around the room before he plugged it in, showing him what the others couldn’t see. 

“Well?” Gaia asked, something like anticipation in her voice, before Nico cursed, slumping down in the couch behind him. 

“It’s all encrypted,” Nico said, and Ahsoka could feel the emotion rolling off him, how he was upset by the prospect of not having the answers he was looking for. He threw the ‘pad on the table before he slumped back into the couch, looking at Gaia. “Looks like we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.” 

“At least we have it, Nico,” Gaia said, looking at him, the same feeling washing off her, though there was an underlying amount of anger sitting there, hard and deep, like it wouldn’t go away even if the Mandalorian tried. 

Nico didn’t say anything, so Gaia took that as her cue to look at both her and Rex, offering a faint smile. “Sorry about the mess. You’re currently looking at the entirety of the Trade Federation’s business right here.” 

“Why do you care about the Trade Federation?” Ahsoka asked, curious. This was the same bounty hunter that killed the Viceroy, sending his head to Senator Amidala, and then giving Commander Fox intel on a slaver cell in the lower levels of Coruscant just because she _could_. 

“I don’t care about the Trade Federation,” Gaia said, shrugging. “I care about what Nute Gunray did in his free time.” 

“Why?” Rex asked from beside her, eyeing the mess and the two Mandalorians with a curious note to his face. Gaia shared a look with Nico, who shrugged at her before he spoke. “This is your mess. I’m just helping you make something out of it.” 

Gaia just stared at him like she wanted to strangle him, though it only lasted half a second, before she shook her head, looking back at the two newcomers on the ship. “Gunray made a failsafe incase something happened to him during the war, and we’re trying to find it.” 

“What’s on it?” Ahsoka asked, genuinely curious. At the question, Gaia smirked, the scar around her eye stretching just a little. It gave her a wolfish look, all predatory and full of teeth. 

“Every known Separatist in the Republic Senate, along with the identity of the Sith Lord the Jedi can’t find,” Gaia said. She acted like it wasn’t that big of a deal, seeing as how she shrugged, but it was a big deal, to both herself and to Rex, who sucked in a sharp breath at Gaia’s words. 

Rex and his brothers were made for the war. They’ve known nothing else. Ahsoka became a Padawan when the war started, learning things no other Padawan before her learned. If Gunray really _had_ a failsafe out there with that type of information on it, it could _end the war_. 

“How do you know it’s real?” Rex asked, looking from Gaia to Nico, his gaze lingering on the man slumped into the couch, who was eyeing the datapad on the dejarik table with disdain on his face. Nico looked up at him before he raised the datapad for them to see. “The chip Gaia fought Ventress for has the location of it on it. We just need to crack into it, find it, and then hand it over to the Republic.” 

“So you were being serious then,” Ahsoka said, looking at Gaia, who was already watching her, an unreadable expression on her face. “When you told Senator Amidala and the Jedi Council that you were pledging your loyalty to the Republic.” 

Gaia had a strange look on her face as she nodded at Ahsoka’s words before she pushed some fallen hair out of her face. “I was raised on the belief that if you help others, your life is worth something.” 

“And if you don't,” Nico said, looking softly at Gaia, before he continued, “Then you're life has no meaning or worth at all." 

The two Mandalorians then formed their right hands into a fist before touching their heart twice, a symbol of something Ahsoka didn’t recognize. But then she remembered they were from Red Dawn, and it must’ve meant something to them. Something important. An oath they took, just like the Jedi took an oath. 

BD came into the room then, chirping something to Gaia, who groaned before rubbing her eye that carried the scar. 

_Everything’s intact except for the gun, the long-range transmitter, and the fuel line has a crack in it and we’re losing fuel fast_ , BD said. 

“I told you not to mention the gun to me,” Gaia said, sending the droid a glare before she walked out of the room, most likely heading for the cockpit, and Nico began to laugh softly before he shook his head, clearly amused with the droid throwing the gun back in her face. 

"And why did you mention the fuel line _last_?" The trio heard Gaia shout as she made her way to the cockpit. "That's the most important part of the ship! No fuel means no fly, and for _you_ , that means no fuel, no fly, no credits, no _upgrade_!" 

Ahsoka looked at Rex, sharing a look with him, as the small droid made a scandalized sound, as if Gaia's words wronged him in any way, shape, or form. Nico, from his spot on the couch, sighed, before he stood up and grabbed another datapad as he looked at the two. "They argue. All the time. If you don't want BD to throw you out the airlock, it's best to ignore it and not interject if you're not going to side with him." 

Rex's hand brushed the back of hers, his fingers dancing over her skin, tapping out a message. Ahsoka looked at him and nodded, and Rex seemed to lose some of the tension in his shoulders at her response. 

The Force felt calm around the two Mandalorians, so for right now? It was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _darjetii_ \- Sith
> 
> we've reached more of the plot and im so excited!!

**Author's Note:**

>  _buir_ \- father 
> 
> _shebs_ \- ass 
> 
> This doesn't follow a specific timeline, but if I had to place it somewhere, it would be during the last year and a half during the war 
> 
> Ahsoka is also a little bit older here in this than she is in the show, but only by like, two years


End file.
